Slowly dripping tap - water pressure?

maurice28

We had a new Caple mixer tap fitted last week as part of a new kitchen. All as been good with it but this morning, it seems to have a very slow drip (about 1 a minute) after it's been used. I've taken it apart to check seals etc and all seems OK. 

The only thing that has changed is that over the last couple of days we've had water pressure issues due to a burst pipe at a reservoir, according to United Utilities. We had low pressure for a day or so then light brown water, until it was restored yesterday.

I wondered if issues like this might cause a tap to drip for a little while, as things settle down? While it's back to normal for us, it sounds like other people in the area still aren't quite back to normal.

ThisIsWeird

It sounds counter-intuitive, but - yes - a very low pressure can cause ceramic-valve type taps to drip very slightly (tho' they shouldn't at all, really, at least not until they are a year or more old and have had a little wear.)

The two ceramic discs are actually kept under tight surface contact by the water pressure, so when that drops away, the bottom disc can ease off from this contact.

You may even have noticed that the tap is actually easier-looser- to operate? If so, that'll be for the same reason - friction between the two discs has been reduced.

I'd leave it until normal service is resumed, and see if it goes back to normal.

I guess it could also be a piece of micro-grit caught between them, but I'd have though that would clear with a few on-offs.

Was it supplied and fitted by a plumber? If so, and if it remains faulty, that poor fellow is most likely liable for replacing it, tho' just new cartridges should do the job.

victor2

maurice28 said:

We had a new Caple mixer tap fitted last week as part of a new kitchen. All as been good with it but this morning, it seems to have a very slow drip (about 1 a minute) after it's been used. I've taken it apart to check seals etc and all seems OK. 

The only thing that has changed is that over the last couple of days we've had water pressure issues due to a burst pipe at a reservoir, according to United Utilities. We had low pressure for a day or so then light brown water, until it was restored yesterday.

I wondered if issues like this might cause a tap to drip for a little while, as things settle down? While it's back to normal for us, it sounds like other people in the area still aren't quite back to normal.

See what mains pressure the tap is rated for. I doubt if Caple taps are low pressure only (ie. fed from a water tank).

Failing that it could be a faulty cartridge in the tap. As it is so new, I'd get the installers to look at it.

Edit: Maybe some residue from the restored water supply got into the cartridge and is causing it to leak?

maurice28

Thanks both! Will give it a day or two and see how it goes. It's very minor I must say, drips a couple of times when you turn it off then it maybe does it one a minute for a few minutes then stops. Probably nothing but noticing anything out of the ordinary as the kitchen is so new!

Someone from the kitchen company is coming next week to replace a drawer front which has a tiny chip on it, so will ask them if it is still doing it.

ThisIsWeird

It is 'quite' common - certainly not unheard of - but usually only on taps that have been used for a good while, where wear-'play' is compensated for by the water pressure pressing the discs together.

It is surprising on a new tap, and a new cartridge should sort it. But, if it goes back to normal with the return of pressure, that's your call to make :-)

If yours is a combi or unvented system, it could be either tap, HorC.

greyteam1959

What shape is the tap ??

maurice28

greyteam1959 said:

What shape is the tap ??

This is the one - https://www.caple.co.uk/online-shop/taps/dual-lever/ave2-ss/

ThisIsWeird

Nice tap.

Sometimes the cartridge can be nipped up a teeny bit more too - the round rubber washer at the bottom then presses more firmly against the bottom disc, so taking up any 'slack' that could be there. But that could come with issues; the handle might not end up perfectly vertical unless it's tweaked enough (to the next spline), and really it's not your job to sort anyway.

I'd see what happens when the water pressure is restored in the first instance.

plumb1_2

Could be the metal filter screen at the end of the spout, is holding water, then just release it slowly 

JohnB47

To me, this is the crucial piece of information:

" burst pipe at a reservoir, according to United Utilities. We had low pressure for a day or so then light brown water,"

I'm thinking that the brown water has brought little gritty particles with it and some of them have scored the ceramic disks on your tap. Only a replacement cartridge will sort this I'm afraid. 

This happened to me in the past and since then, if I ever have a water supply problem, I make sure to run an old outside tap for a while when it's resolved. That tap has a simple rubber washer arrangement and can be easily repaired ( by me). This saves damage to internal things like bathroom and kitchen taps and the loo, which would be costly to fix.

ThisIsWeird

JohnB47 said:

To me, this is the crucial piece of information:

" burst pipe at a reservoir, according to United Utilities. We had low pressure for a day or so then light brown water,"

I'm thinking that the brown water has brought little gritty particles with it and some of them have scored the ceramic disks on your tap. Only a replacement cartridge will sort this I'm afraid. 

Ah, I misread the OP. If the low pressure period is now over, and normal mains pressure resumed, then it ain't what I suspected. So what you suggest is more likely.

Or even as plumb says - Ie 'normal' for that tap, and perhaps just not noticed before? I mean, if the slow drips actually stop by themselves, then presumably the cartridges are actually ok.